Wetland plants and animals

Most of New Zealand’s wetland plants and animals are found nowhere else in the world. Many face an uncertain future because of habitat loss and introduced pests. Wetland restoration and providing fish access can help protect our wetland plants and animals.

Wetlands support an amazing number of species and some of them are very unusual. Wetlands now cover less than two percent of New Zealand’s land area, but they are home to 22 percent of our bird species and 30 percent of our native freshwater fish.

Most of New Zealand’s wetland plants and animals are endemic (meaning they are found nowhere else in the world). Black mudfish, fernbirds, cabbage trees and flax are among our endemic species.

Plants and animals that live in wetlands face an uncertain future. Because of habitat loss and damage, many, like the Australasian bittern and short-jawed kokopu, are now endangered. Eleven threatened birds and 13 threatened plant species live in Waikato wetlands. This is nearly a quarter of the Region’s threatened species, even though wetlands make up only a tiny portion (less than five percent) of our Region’s natural areas.

Conservation and restoration programmes can make a big difference and it’s not too difficult to create conditions ideally suited to our wetland wildlife. Find out more about restoring wetlands.

Special plants

The swards of rush-like plants found in the Region’s peat bogs are unique to the Southern Hemisphere. Two plants found only in the Waikato are the giant cane rush (Sporadanthus ferrugineus) and the threatened swamp helmet orchid (found only in the Whangamarino Wetland).

Other threatened plants, such as a clubmoss, a hooded orchid and a carnivorous bladderwort, also occur in the lower Waikato wetlands.

Birds

Notable birdlife include the threatened Australasian bittern and the endemic North Island fernbird. It is estimated that 25 percent of the total bittern population in New Zealand and one of the largest populations of North Island fernbird live in the Whangamarino Wetland.

Wetland margins are also home to the secretive marsh and spotless crakes, the endemic shoveler and grey teal.

Other endemic wetland birds include:

brown teal

New Zealand dabchicks and scaup

shoveler

paradise shelducks.

Thousands of mallard ducks reside in the Waikato wetlands and provide recreation for hunters.

Fascinating fish

Waikato wetlands are important habitats for native fish such as the threatened black mudfish. The black mudfish spends its life in wetlands, drains or weed-filled creek beds. They are able to burrow deep into mud or under logs and aestivate (are dormant) for months at a time during dry spells. This means they can occupy temporary wetlands not accessible to other fish.

The more common inanga, whose juveniles make up the bulk of the whitebait catch, are present in large numbers in wetlands connected to the Region’s rivers. The threatened banded and giant kokopu (historically an important food source for Maori and early European settlers) are present in some wetlands.

Species management

Most native wetland bird species are fully protected under the Wildlife Act 1993, which is administered by the Department of Conservation. The Department of Conservation regulates whitebait harvest by setting seasons and controlling the methods and equipment used by fishers.

The Ministry of Fisheries regulates commercial and customary eel harvesting and the recreational take is limited to six eels per person per day.